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Local TV News opinion question
- Thread starter David67
- Start date
There is no such rule. The only rule in effect is that you must serve your community of license, and address issues of concern in your community. Most stations do that via public affairs programming, although many do not.
Otherwise, all hundreds of stations would not be on the air...including many of those with CW, My Network TV, Ion, TBN, PBS, and other affiliations.
Otherwise, all hundreds of stations would not be on the air...including many of those with CW, My Network TV, Ion, TBN, PBS, and other affiliations.
I
imhomerjay
Guest
Huh? What rule is that?David67 said:
Plenty of stations have dumped unprofitable newscasts. There is no rule preventing that.
K
kyscott
Guest
dgendvil said:
If you are a television station with an unprofitable newscast, you are not doing it right. News has about the highest profit margin in any programming you can do, which is why some stations do three and four blocks of news programing at a time!
kyscott said:
That's right. News can be very profitable for a station, if done right. That's why many OX affiliates in particular air so much news.
As for any type of rule regarding news programming, there is no federal requirement. However, the networks that affiliate with the station (NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX) typically demand it. There are exceptions, of course. Most ironic is WWJ in Detroit, which is owned by CBS but dropped their poorly-rated newscast a few years ago. Sinclair stations are notorious for opting out of news on some of their stations (since their horrible "News Central" concept went down in flames). Their FOX affiliate in Buffalo airs no news, and they justify it by claiming that they aim their programming and promotion toward people on the Canadian side of the border, who they feel would rather watch sitcom reruns than news. Sinclair's ABC affiliate in St. Louis (Ch. 30) dropped news altogether a few years ago because they didn't have the patience to make it work. Their ratings are terrible, and I'm sure ABC really can't stand them and would rather be elsewhere (Tribune's CW affiliate on Ch. 11, perhaps?).
I remember the local TV ratings wars of the 70s and 80s - in the LA and Bay Area markets, where the competing network affiliates continually switched anchors, changed sets, added or subtracted "happy-talk" or sensationalist stories and prime-time teasers in their quest to become the top rated broadcast.
Nowadays, it seems like things have settled down, espcially in the Bay Area. There has been some downsizing of reporters and behind the scences staff, lately. But most affiliates run almost identical straight-forward newscasts. Anchors occasionally retire or leave for a better gig in another market - but mostly, things stay the same.
I assume this is because even the lower rated newscasts are still making profits for their stations.
Nowadays, it seems like things have settled down, espcially in the Bay Area. There has been some downsizing of reporters and behind the scences staff, lately. But most affiliates run almost identical straight-forward newscasts. Anchors occasionally retire or leave for a better gig in another market - but mostly, things stay the same.
I assume this is because even the lower rated newscasts are still making profits for their stations.
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